Published Paper Details:

A STUDY TO ASSESS THE LEVEL OF STRESS AMONG HYPERTENSIVE PATIENTS ATTENDING Cardiology OPD, SVIMS, TIRUPATI was undertaken by Mr.R.ALEN LEZZEL as a partial fulfilment of degree of Master of science in Nursing, SVIMS university during the year 2022-2023 OBJECTIVES: ? To assess the level of stress in hypertensive patients. ? To find out the association between level of stress among hypertensive patients with selected socio demographic variables. Review of literature provided an in depth knowledge for the development of the research tool. The conceptual frame work which is adopted for the present study was based on Modified LUDWIG VON BERTALANFFY General System theory (2023) and it provides comprehensive framework for achieving the objectives of the study. The research approach adopted for this study was Cross Sectional Descriptive research design. The study was conducted in Cardiology OPD at SVIMS using structured questionnaire and the sampling technique was Non Probability Convenience sampling technique. The tool used in this study consists of two sections : Section - I contains sociodemographic variables, Section - II contains modified perceived stress scale (S.Cohen 1983) The reliability of the instrument was established by administering the tool to 15 patients who are attending Cardiology OPD who were not included in the pilot study and who fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Internal consistency of the tool was established through split half method by using Cronbach's alpha formula r = 0.84 and the tool was found to be reliable. The actual study was done on 355 patients who were falling under inclusion criteria. The collected data was analyzed by using descriptive and inferential statistics. The study findings revealed that 57 (16.1%) patients had low stress, 162 (45.6%) patients had moderate stress, 136 (38.3%) patients had high stress with a mean score 22.71 + 5.93 respectively. The findings of association between the level of stress and demographic variables with the age, gender, formal education, occupation, family income, shows highly significant association at p<0.01level; place of residence, type of work , shows significant association at p<0.05 level and the other variables such as marital status, religion, type of family ,type of diet do not have significant association. RECOMMENDATIONS: o o The nurse posted in the Cardiology OPD could spare sometime for teaching and guiding related to stress management in hypertensive patients. A structured teaching programme can be conducted on management of stress among hypertensive patients in different settings and different population. oA comparative study can be conducted on level of stress among hypertensive patients and patients with other comorbidities